BAFTA Nominations Announced Before Oscars

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has delivered some surprises while barring a few hopefuls.

The BAFTA nominations were just announced for the 2016 award season. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts will hold its 69th ceremony this year.

The list of nominees has delivered some surprises, while also snubbing major contenders. The biggest snub by BAFTA was delivered to the film Mad Max: Fury Road.

The reboot of the Mad Max franchise didn't receive nominations for Best Film or Best Director. Instead BAFTA preferred to nominate film such as Bridge of Spies and The Revenant. Even the respective directors of the film received Bes Director nominations.

The BAFTA nominations for the Outstanding British Film category show what a good year british films has had. The category generally does not contain more than 2 or 3 strong contenders.

However this year the list contains a wide variety of strong contenders. The nominations include film such as 45 Years, Amy, Brooklyn, Ex Machina, The Lobster. All of the films made their mark and raised praise at the time of their release.

Another surprising aspect of the BAFTA is the preference given to two particular films. Especially the films "Carol" and "Bridge of Spies" gathered the most nominations at BAFTA. Both films have earned nine prestigious nominations at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Similarly it seems special preference was given to the work of rising actress Alicia Vikander. Vikander may have actually pulled off a BAFTA coup. Vikander has been nominated for both leading actress and supporting actress.

Vikander received a leading actress nomination for her role in ‘The Danish Girl’ and the supporting nom for ‘EX Machina’. The 27 year old Swedish actress has definitely had a lucky year. Vikander also worked in the "Burnt" and "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." in 2016.

Currently the breakout actress is working on the next Bourne movie with Matt Damon. Vikander has joined the group of a select few actresses to have received a double nom from the BAFTA. The double nom group includes powerhouse names such as Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet and Cate Blanchett.

A few years ago the BAFTA was not as significant on the award season sphere as it is now. The reason for its prominence could be the reverse voting system. At the BAFTA awards the branches decide the nominees and the collective groups choose a winner for a category.

The BAFTA awards have also garnered praise for bringing small scale movies on the larger sphere. For example the score by Alexandre Desplat for the “Grand Budapest Hotel” was highlighted at the BAFTA. The nomination by BAFTA showed the score by Desplat was stronger than the presumably front-running ‘Theory of Everything’.

Similarly the fan favorite ‘Boyhood’ snubbed at the Oscars from the Best Picture award won at the BAFTA. Many believed the film rightfully won further signifying BAFTA’s role.

Some would argue BAFTA has long been giving awards where deserved. Notably BAFTA gave out honors to “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” for editing. While “Children of Men” was recognized for its production design.

The BAFTA nominations are quite illuminating as they remind of industry support. Most importantly the crossover between the BAFTA and Academy Awards is not huge. The BAFTA body perceives the craft of film making.